(A) The county needs to keep an accurate account of the number of horse-drawn vehicles or buggies that transverse its public roadways for purposes of safety, traffic flow information and fiscal planning due to the additional wear they cause upon the public roadway system for which there is no compensation by the state as part of the disbursement of highway funds by the state to the county.
(B) It is hereby established that the County Auditor’s Office shall issue a permit/plate (or a permit “sticker” system) which shall be affixed to each horse-drawn vehicle or buggy owned by any resident of the county or operated by any individual on any roadway of the county, which plate shall be permanently affixed and nontransferable on the back of the horse-drawn buggy. The permit/plate shall enable the county to keep an accurate account of the number of horse-drawn vehicles being operated on the public roadway systems and shall also assist in the identification of the owner or operators of the horse-drawn vehicles in the event of accidents.
(C) (1) In order to more equitably cover the associated costs for buggies, pony carts, and buggy permits, the County Auditor’s Office shall collect the sum of $125 for each buggy permit sold and $75 for each “pony cart” permit sold, and the permit/plate shall be issued on an annual basis on or before May 10 of each year, which shall permit each horse-drawn vehicle or buggy to be owned and operated in the county for a period of one year, not exceeding up to and through May 9 of the year following the year of issuance. Any lost or misplaced permits requiring reissuance shall cost the same as an initial or new issuance.
(2) In the event that a buggy permit/plate is lost, destroyed or otherwise needs to be replaced, the requesting individual shall sign an affirmation statement and pay any applicable fees prior to the issuance of a replacement permit. Such statement can be obtained from the Daviess County Auditor’s Office. In order to cover the administrative cost associated with the accounting and issuance of a replacement permit/plate, the Daviess County Auditor’s Office shall collect the sum of $10.
(D) The sale of the permits/plates shall be handled by the County Auditor’s Office and the County Highway Department at various locations authorized by the Auditor’s Office and the Highway Department.
(E) The County Auditor’s Office and the County Highway Department shall collect the monies which have been paid at the various authorized locations in a timely fashion. The Auditor’s Office and the Highway Department are ordered and directed to ensure that the personnel at each location shall have sufficient State Board of Accounts approved receipt forms and provide any instructions and/or information regarding the collecting of the fees for the horse-drawn vehicle or buggy permits and issuing receipts thereof.
(F) Any and all funds collected by the County Auditor’s Office and County Highway Department as a result of the issuance of the permit/plate shall be placed in the Motor Vehicle/Highway Funds of the county, and be used in a manner so as the County Commissioners shall approve and/or as the fundsmay be appropriated by the County Council. The Auditor is ordered and directed to keep a specific accounting of the funds in a manner acceptable to and as regulated by the Department of Local Government Finance and the State Board of Accounts.
(G) The County Auditor’s Office and the County Highway Department are further ordered and directed to ensure that any individual collecting the monies shall have an appropriate bond as required by the State Board of Accounts for any individual handling of public monies.
(H) A horse-drawn vehicle shall not be operated on any public roadway in the confines of the county if the vehicle fails to have a permit/plate as set forth herein.
(I) The County Sheriff’s Department is hereby ordered and directed to enforce the dictates of this statute, and ensure that each buggy using the roadways of the county and/or owned by any resident of the county has a plate affixed thereto in a prominent and easily located position.
(Ord. 2008-6, passed 8-25-2008; Ord. 2012-2, passed 4-23-2012; Ord. 2020-1, passed 1-14-2020; Ord. 2022-7, passed 12-27-2022)